Friday, 26 August 2016

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Final Map

Eli Kurtz (of the Mythic Gazetteer) has completed the map I commissioned for my upcoming setting in record time, and I'm extremely pleased with the way it turned out, so I thought I'd show it off and talk a little about it.

Click to enlarge (to 25% of the full size map).

The Plot Point Campaign in Saga of the Goblin Horde takes place in a relatively small geographical area, which means you can slot the entire setting into an existing fantasy world if you wish. However one of the main reasons for restricting the goblin lands to a small area is that I want to tie Plot Point Episodes and Savage Tales to specific points of interest (a la 50 Fathoms).

Therefore in order to confine the players to the area and prevent them just wandering off into the world, I added some natural barriers.

The Endless Ocean is the main barrier; teeming with feral sea goblins who attack anyone passing through their territory (including ships), the ocean is effectively impassable. There is one island, but it's a tidal island, and can be safely reached during low tide.

The Great Forest serves as another barrier to the south. This is the territory of the vicious forest humans (you know, the long-lived "humans" with pointed ears and an archery fetish), and they're extremely hostile, so the area is effectively off limits unless you've got an army.

The Longtooth Mountains serve as a soft barrier, this time to the north. In theory you could keep heading north over the mountains, but the going gets tougher and colder, and there's nothing to see or do there.

That leaves east as the only viable exit, and the goblins do indeed launch occasional raids across Hightree Ridge into the human lands, but they don't push too deep. Attacking small towns and outposts near the border is one thing, but you'd need a huge army to assault the cities and fortresses in the settled lands, and the goblins simply aren't that organized (although it would make a great sequel, so who knows what the future will bring).

And that leaves us with the regions described in the map, which is where the Plot Point Campaign takes place. The gazetteer provides a brief overview of each point of interest, and the GM chapter explores their secrets, but most of the details will be expanded in Plot Point Episodes, Savage Tales, and One Sheets.

If you've previously downloaded the archetypes, the map should give you a better frame of reference for some of the locations mentioned in the character backgrounds.

I would also like to discuss the division of goblin territory, and give an overview of the hexcrawl system, but this post is already rather long, so I will save those subjects for future posts.

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This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.